Friday Trivia: Top 10 Oldest Jet Airliner Tail Numbers

A jet airliner's registration, generally known as its "tail number", typically changes when acquired by another operator. This is done for various legal, operational, and/or marketing reasons.

Some aircraft, however, have the distinction of having the same tail number since delivery from the manufacturer, even after having been flown by multiple operators. An in-depth analysis into Aviation Week Intelligence Network's Fleet database shows the top 10 jet airliners flying today with the oldest continuous tail numbers, excluding government or military aircraft.

REGISTRATION

TYPE

YEAR DELIVERED

ORIGINAL OPERATOR

CURRENT OPERATOR

N68049

MD-10-10CF

1974

CONTINENTAL AIRLINES

FEDEX

N68053

MD-10-10CF

1975

CONTINENTAL AIRLINES

FEDEX

EP-IAG

747-200B

1976

IRAN AIR

IRAN AIR

EP-IAH

747-200B

1977

IRAN AIR

IRAN AIR

EP-IAC

747SP

1977

IRAN AIR

IRAN AIR

C-GDPA

737-200C

1980

DOME PETROLEUM

CANADIAN NORTH

C-GOPW

737-200C

1980

PACIFIC WESTERN AIRLINES

CANADIAN NORTH

ZS-SID

737-200(F)

1981

SOUTH AFRICAN AIRWAYS

AFRICA CHARTER AIRLINE

C-GSPW

737-200C

1981

PACIFIC WESTERN AIRLINES

CANADIAN NORTH

N705AA

727-200(F)(W)

1981

AMERICAN AIRLINES

ASIA PACIFIC AIRLINES

So which jet airliner, active or not, holds the all-time record? That honor belongs to HK-727, a 727-100(F) which flew with that same tail number for 49 years. Delivered to Avianca in 1966 and acquired by Aerosucre Colombia in 1992, it was finally retired in early 2015.

Many thanks to Senior Fleet Analyst Nigel Howarth for his help in extracting this data.

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